You are on the beach and – wandering around with your gaze – you happen to rest it on the lifeguard’s observation post, where some signal flagswhich serve to give swimmers essential information on the bathing safety. But apart from the red flag which is notoriously known to warn swimmers of dangerous bathing, what do the colours of the flags mean and what information do they want to convey?
In particular, on Italian beaches the flags that are seen most often are the white one (and its blue namesake), the yellow one and the red one.
White flag and blue flag
The white flag indicates that the weather conditions allow a safe bathing and the rental of pedal boats and canoes, and that on the beach the rescue service is active.
On some beaches, instead of the white flag, there is a blue one, with the same meaning. blue flag It is mainly used on the beaches of Veneto and Friuli, and stands out when the weather conditions are ideal and safe for diving into the water.
Yellow flag
The yellow flag is not a passepartout as one might think, but that the lifeguard surveillance service is reduced during the lunch break, that is between 1.00 pm and 3.00 pm.
In some establishments the yellow flag may also indicate theobligation to close the umbrella due to strong winds, but in that case a clear signal is given by the lifeguards or there is an indication on specific signs.
Red flag
The red flag, as we said initially, is a warning to swimmers indicating that bathing is dangerous due to bad weather, so it is better not to enter the water (at most you can stay on the shoreline, using caution). In some cases this flag may also be there if the weather is good, in which case it indicates that there are no lifeguards on the beach at that time. If two red flags are displayed it means that the beach is closed to swimming because it is too dangerous.
Purple flag
The purple flag is enough rare to seebut if you spot it it means that in that stretch of sea jellyfish, sea snakes or other marine animals are present which may cause minor damage.
Sometimes, instead of being all purple, there is an alternative version of this flag with a purple background (but also purple or blue) and a drawing of a white jellyfish in the center (the two colors can also be reversed).
